Former teammates help each other through life’s ups and downs

Published: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 08:06 PM.

A group of Carolina girls leave their husbands, children and jobs behind once a year to reconnect with each other in “The Dixie Swim Club,” which opens tonight at the Little Theater of Gastonia.

The five women, whose friendships began on their college swim team, are in their mid-40s when the show opens. Their annual trips to the Outer Banks are like therapy sessions as they dish about relationships, work, sex, parenting and aging, said director James Schmitt.

“These women, even though they’re completely in love with each other, have bones to pick with each other,” Schmitt said. “Even though they’re at each others’ throats, they’re the ones who are there to be sympathetic and there to help their girlfriends through the latest turns in their lives.”

The four weekends depicted in the comedy span 30 years. The details, challenges and changes in the friends’ lives between those weekends are revealed through the advice and repartee they share with one another.

“It will be interesting for (audience members) to see how they change,” Schmitt said. “I think that they’ll be surprised to know that even though the characters do change over time, you learn things about them that you didn’t know about them at the beginning.”

A group of Carolina girls leave their husbands, children and jobs behind once a year to reconnect with each other in “The Dixie Swim Club,” which opens tonight at the Little Theater of Gastonia.

The five women, whose friendships began on their college swim team, are in their mid-40s when the show opens. Their annual trips to the Outer Banks are like therapy sessions as they dish about relationships, work, sex, parenting and aging, said director James Schmitt.

“These women, even though they’re completely in love with each other, have bones to pick with each other,” Schmitt said. “Even though they’re at each others’ throats, they’re the ones who are there to be sympathetic and there to help their girlfriends through the latest turns in their lives.”

The four weekends depicted in the comedy span 30 years. The details, challenges and changes in the friends’ lives between those weekends are revealed through the advice and repartee they share with one another.

“It will be interesting for (audience members) to see how they change,” Schmitt said. “I think that they’ll be surprised to know that even though the characters do change over time, you learn things about them that you didn’t know about them at the beginning.”

Here’s a look at “The Dixie Swim Club” roster.

Dinah

Played by Margaret Neely

Background: Dinah is a driven, successful, self-medicating attorney who’s sacrificed her personal life for professional success.

Role in the group: She’s the rock. She’s the voice of reason whenever there’s a problem. Her swim teammates are the family she never had.

Memorable scene in the show: She goes through a major life crisis near the end of the show. “It makes her come unglued and that’s when she leans on these other friends,” Neely said.

Jeri Neal

Played by Carmen Schultz

Background: Jeri Neal begins adulthood as a cloistered nun, becomes pregnant and leaves the convent to be a mother.

Memorable scene in the show: Jeri Neal constantly quotes her Granny McFeeley. One of Schultz’s favorites is “Never wrestle a pig in the mud because you’ll both get dirty and the pig enjoys it way to much.”

Lexie

Played by Kris Lineberger

Background: Lexie is a party planner with a string of ex-husbands.

Role in the group: She’s the vain one. “She’s concerned with maintaining her looks as she ages and is not above seeing someone to assist her with that,” Lineberger said. “She’s very attractive to the opposite sex and isn’t ashamed or afraid to use that to her advantage.”

Memorable scene in the show: When asked why she was late to arrive, Lexie, carrying a basket of blueberries, explains she saw a hunk selling blueberries. She said she’d buy a pint if he showed her a tattoo. “It’s surprising,” she said, “the number of places one can put a tattoo.”

Sheree

Played by Carol Taylor

Background: Sheree was the swim team captain and continues to take the lead in the group.

Role in the group: She’s the organizer. She’s also the energetic friend that makes the healthy snacks no one wants.

Memorable scene in the show: When a hurricane approaches the Outer Banks, she packs her friends’ bags while they’re having coffee. They tease her about it. “You should have checked to make sure we’re wearing clean underwear,” they tell her.

Vernadette

Played by Debbie Ware

Background: Vernadette is a down-on-her-luck teacher in a loveless marriage with two deadbeat kids.

Role in the group: She’s the cut-up. “When there’s a lot of drama happening in the group, she can help them laugh at themselves and not take things so seriously,” Ware said.

Memorable scene in the show: After sitting back and watching one of the arguments because she doesn’t have a dog in the fight, she waits for things to calm down and then says, “C’mon girls, let’s burn some more trash, I haven’t had this much entertainment in years.”

Want to Go?

The Little Theater of Gastonia production of “Dixie Swim Club” runs at 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and at 8 p.m. April 11-13. Tickets are $15 adults and $12 students/seniors. Tickets are available online at www.carolinatix.org, by calling 704-372-1000 or at the theater up to 45 minutes prior to the start of each show.

The theater is at 238 S. Clay St., Gastonia. For more information, visit www.littletheaterofgastonia.com or call the theater box office at 704-865-0160.